Both a Cabinet version and a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) version of a draft Political Party Law (政黨法) delivered to the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee and the Judiciary, Organic Laws and Statutes Committee for assessment have raised concerns among the nation’s smaller parties.
Both versions stipulate that parties that have not held a congress in four years, have not complied with congressional deadlines set by the authorities, or have failed to nominate candidates for public office at county or city level or above, will be considered defunct. The KMT draft goes further by granting authorities the right to take disciplinary action by dissolving political parties.
Opponents claim the drafts contain possible violations of the Constitution and it has caused dissent from not only the pan-green camp, but also from pan-blue legislators who claim to have been unaware of its contents and say it is extremely inappropriate.
Many critics have lambasted the drafts for attempting to destroy smaller parties.
Jou Yi-cheng (周奕成), convener of the Third Society Party (第三社會黨), criticized the draft as unreasonable, saying that the public have the constitutional right to assemblage and no law that stipulates that parties must participate in elections at certain levels. He said parties could aim to serve the basic levels of society and only participate in township elections, and that it would be unreasonable to force these parties to disband.
While conceding that it would be reasonable to prevent parties that do not participate in elections from fund raising or enjoying tax benefits, Jou said that governing authorities do not and should not have the right to dissolve political parties.
Since parties can serve more functions than merely competing in elections and the four-year limit appears arbitrary, Jou said he felt that such legislation appeared to be aimed at forcing minor parties to disband.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator and member of the Internal Administration Committee, Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), argued that the current system for legislative elections is already disadvantageous to smaller parties and further restrictions were not required.
KMT Legislator and convener of the Judiciary Committee, Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進), agreed that electoral participation was only one way for parties to express their political ideologies and that the government should not force all parties to participate. He said that he had not been aware that his party had proposed the draft and had been ignorant of its content.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS